Ventilated drum for dehydrators



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Filed Jan.

atented qan.. 3i, QS

VENTILATED DRUM DEHYDRATORS Wallace L. McGferhee,vv Kansas City, M0.,V assignor 1 te McGehee Company, Kansas City, Mo., a corv poration of Missouri Application January 13, 1947, Serial No. 721,842

i 1 Claim. (Cl. 34-136) This invention relates to apparatus for dehydrating materials from which it is desired to remove substantially all the moisture as the same passes through a horizontally disposed rotatable drum, through the medium of a blast of hot air passing through the machine. It is Well known by those skilled in this art that proper dehydration of such materials is more effectively accomplished if the dehydrators are ventilated and air permitted to impinge upon the material as the same passes therethrough.

1t is also well known that the wet material entering the machine to be entrained in astream o het air is capable of withstanding a hotter stream of air than is possible after such material has passed further intol the interior of the drum. Therefore, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a ventilated drum for dehydrators, having means for directing air to the material at a point in the drum where the materia-l has reached a point of dehydration, where the same is incapable of withstanding extremely hot blasts without burning or otherwise becoming damaged.

The most important object of this'lin'vention is to provide a ventilated drum for dehydrators, having one or more air intake openings for placing the drum into communication with the atmosphere and manually shiftable closure .means for adjustably limiting the amount of air passing into the drum.

Another object of this invention is to provide a ventilated drum for dehydrators having a rote table shell formed by an inner and outer wall so spaced as to present a hollow.' continuous circumscribing chamber` in communication with the interior of the drum and for means for receiving air from the exterior thereof in the form of an adiustable closure. i

A. further object of this invention is toprovide in a ventilated drum for dehydrators having the aforesaid inner and outer walls, means for returning a large percent of heat that escapes throughout the length of the drum to its interior as air is directed from its exterior thereinto.

Additional objects will be made clear or be come apparent during the course of the following specication, referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. l is a substantially central longitudinal sectional View of a ventilated drum for dehydrators made in accordance with my present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional View, taken on line II-'II of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross sectional view, taken on line III-III of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detailed cross sectional View, taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary substantially central longitudinal cross-sectional View of a modified form of a ventilated drum for dehydrators.

The material handling apparatus chosen for illustration, comprises a substantially cylindrical double Wall shell, mounted for rotation with its longitudinal axis disposed horizontally and broadly designated by the numeral lll. This shell comprises an innerrand outer wall l2.' and lt respectively, the diameter of wall l2 being less than the diameter of wall i4, to present a hollow chamber or space it, circumscribing wall l2 throughout the greater portion of its length. A number of spacers i8, as illustrated in Fig. 2, disposed between these Walls l2 and lll, hold the same in spaced relation. The rotatable drum l0 may take any suitable form and the same has been illustrated as having an intake opening 2li at one end thereof through the medium whereof the substances to be dehydrated are introduced and an outlet port 22 at the opposite end of drum l0. The interior of they shell is divided into a number of sections for lifting and shifting material in the usual manner. The first section designated by the number 24 is divided from the remaining part of drum l0 by a radial inwardly directed flange 26. A plurality of longitudinal radial inwardly directed agitators or lifts 28 are xed within the shell inwardly from flange ZEE toa point spaced `from outlet opening 22. `A frusto-conical wall 3S, extending inwardly and diverging from' the outlet port 22, directs heavy particles of material toward an outlet opening 32. All of these internal parts of the dehydrators form no part `of the present invention and, therefore, it is not necessary to describe the same in more detail. Any suitable means for rotating the drum I0 may be used, such as an annular sprocket (not shown) for receiving force through a chain or the like from a prime mover. Suitable sleeves 34 at each end of the drum I0 suitably supported provide means for rotatably supporting the drum lll.

A portion of the chamber i6 formed by the walls I2 and I4, near the inlet opening 2U, is sealed with an insulating material 35. This material extends throughout the length of the section 24 and serves as a means closing one end of the hollow chamber I6. A plurality of openings 33 formed within the inner wall it are in direct communication with the chamber it at one end thereof and the opposite end has a pair of collars di? and Il?. The outer wall lf2 is slightly shorter than the inner wall i2 at this said end and the collar dil, which has a plurality oi openings lid therein` is ailixed directly to these walls I2 and lf's, as is clear in Figs. 3 and 4.

This collar fr@ is preferably formed by turning the outer' wall lil inwardly to present a circumscribing iiange around inner wallV l2, the inner annular periphery whereof is Welded or otherwise secured to inner wall l2. for the openings M in ange l is formed by the circumscribing collar 42, which is L.shaped in transverse cross-section, to present a pair of legs it and L1B, the former of which slideably enoircles the inner wall l2. The leg tl of col lar d2 bears against the nange @il of outer wall I4 and has a plurality of perforations 5t, formed therein. 4

It is clear from the foregoing that collar et may be shifted or moved on the inner wall l2 to move its perorations Eil intoand out oi registering relation with the openings 413 of the ilange 40. Obviously the openings lll and 5t are equally spaced to make it possible for all of said openings tot be in mutual registering relationship if such is desired, By the same token,y the extent to whichV these openings are in register may be varied as conditions require.

Fig. 1 clearly illustrates the manner in which air externally of the drum it, enters through perforations 5t andl M and travelsv along the chamber it to pass into the openingsA 3S, whereuponthis air impinges upon the material pass ing through the dehydrator. The location of the openings 38 is of prime importance, since the material entering the inlet opening 2d is ordinarily quite fully saturated with moisture and while the same is within the section 2t of drum lll', a large degree of heat may be directed thereto without damaging eiect. However,v as the material moves inwardly towardl the litters 28 and particles thereof gradually become dry, the extent of heat which is applied to such particles must be diminished to the end that the same will not burn, because of their dryer nature. The amount of air necessary for entrance to the dehydrator will depend directly upon the eX- tent of the moisture contained in the material upon its initial entrance into drum l!) and, therefore, the adjustability of col-lar I2 becomes quite important.V

It is furthermore notable that as the. air passes along chamber I6 for entrance into the open ings 38, much of the escaping heat passing radially outwardly through the inner wall l2 and which might otherwise be lost and Wasted., will be carried toward the inlet end oi the drum lli and thence into the openi-ngs 38 for reuse as a drying agent for the material being dehydrated.

Referring now more specically to Fig. 5 and the modified form of the invention, a drum ISU A closure meansis of similar nature to that shown and described with respect to Fig. 1 in that the first compartment |02, adjacent to the, inlet opening of the dehydrator is of a double wall nature and constitutes a pair of spaced apart telescoping shells W4 vand |06. A spaceis provided between these shells for receiving insulation l, similar to the insulationl 36 shown in Fig. 1. The remainder of the drum lllll, however, is oi a single wall nature, which wall Elfi has a plurality oi openings adjacent the section H12 as at l I2. A shiftable collar- H4v encircles the shell ii@ and is provided with a number of openings il@ spaced equall distancesY to the spacing oi openings of H2 l inthe Wall lll), whereby manual sliding movement ofthe collar H4 moves the openings llt into* and out" of register with the openings H2. Inthis modified form it is readily seen that air may jbe introduced to the substance passing through the dehydrator in.- the same manner and at' the precise point as in the form illustrated in Eig. I and the extent of air varied to suit conditions. This modied form eliminates the additional cost of a secondary outer shell as at i4' in Fig. 1 and fails only to utilize lost heat which escapes through the shell Elli.

it is understood that ventilated drums for dehydrators may be made having a large number of structural modications without departing froni the spirit? of this invention or scope oi appended claim,

Having thus described the invention, what' is claimed as new and desired to be secured by I Letters Patent is A ventilated drum for dehydrators of the character described comprising a substantially cylindrical shell mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis, said shell comprising an inner and outer wall, said inner wall having least oneA opening intermediate the ends thereoic having a diameter smaller than the diameter of the Outer Wall to present a hollow chamber between the Walls in communication opening; means for closing one end of the chamber; a perforated wall forming the opposite end of the chamber' and an annular band slidaoly circumscribing the inner wall of the shell adjacent said end wall, said band having a lateral, perforated ilang'e overlapping said end wall., the perforations of the end wall and of the flanges moving into and out of register as'the band is moved on said inner Wall or the shell.

WALLACE L. MCGEHEE.

`RElFlilB/ENCES CITED The following references are of. record in the le of this patenti UNITED STATES PATENTS Number l Name Date 2,319,673 French May 18, 1%3

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 353,458 Great Britain July 23, 1931 

